Head coach Bill O’Brien told reporters Friday that the defensive end underwent surgery Thursday to treat the issue, rather than to wait for it to heal on its own.

“We just looked at it as, let’s take care of it now, and he’ll be ready for training camp like I said,” O’Brien said. “And we’re looking forward to seeing him in training camp.”

After Clowney missed organized team activities Thursday and Friday, the Texans decided to evaluate the nagging groin injury, which dated back to Clowney’s April pro day.

“We sent him to Philadelphia to have it checked out by specialists there,” O’Brien said. “We decided the best thing for J.D. and the best thing for our team, and the best thing for our organization was to have sports hernia surgery. So he had that yesterday, he’ll be back ⅛in Houston⅜ this afternoon.”

Despite the injury, Clowney had been a full participant in the team’s voluntary offseason workouts, with the exception of the practices he missed because of his invitation to the NFL Players Association Rookie Premiere at the end of May.

The Texans’ minicamp runs from June 17-19, but O’Brien said Clowney should be well enough to resume practicing when Houston reports for training camp in late July.

Clowney signed his rookie contract last Friday and is expected to compete for a starting spot immediately in Houston, alongside outside linebacker Whitney Mercilus. Paired with All-Pro defe